Bulgarian words that can be part of any other language
Ever since I started talking with me fellow friends in the US, I started to realize that the Bulgarian dictionary (mainly the one used on the streets) is unique and there are some words that don’t exist in the American vocabulary. Nonetheless, after careful explanation, they all seemed to like those words simply because there is no equivalent of them in English. I became really fascinated how they all remembered those words and knew when they were used in the sentence. This made me think of this article. It could be part of many people’s dictionaries, because the words are funny and after all could come in handy.
1. The first word that everyone seemed to be fond of was the word “kifla”. The word usually means croissant, but no one uses it in this way. The street meaning of this colorful word means a person who is obsessed with the social apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Usually a “kifla” is someone who likes to take pictures of everything and post them. The term “Kifla” usually comes with the disadvantage of lacking any significant brain activity, but on the other hand the person gathers hundreds of likes from a simple salad picture. I'm pretty sure every society can link that word with plenty of people, so if you want to gossip about someone without him/her realizing, “kifla” is the perfect word for this exercise.
2. The second one is a hard word to pronounce- “aylyack”. The word could also be seen in this form “iLike” which is pretty funny wordplay as everyone like to have “aylyack”. It is a completely made up word and has no exact translation. The closest word that it could be associated with is chill. However, “aylyack” is a word that gained huge popularity among all my American friends. It means when you’re not busy with anything and you spend time having fun without doing anything significant. During the summer days, it becomes trendy as everyone is having a vacation somewhere and the best way to describe your activities is with just this single word.
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3. As we continue with this rather funny list, I couldn’t forget one of the most famous words that is used in Bulgaria - “ultras”. Usually this word exist in the English dictionary, but not in the same way it is used around this geographical area. Whenever someone says this word, the first association is about a person who is obsessed with a certain soccer team. This obsession, sadly, goes beyond the sports preference and usually has nothing to do with the game soccer. “Ultras” spend their time during a game fighting each other, instead of watching their team. That’s why “ultras” has shifted its main meaning and now implies people who are careless, imbecile and are most certainly connected with crime activity.
4.The next word I am about to meet you with is “kalitar”. Again, its a completely made up word that doesn’t exist in the dictionary. “kalitar” is a person who is always lucky and gets everything from life without doing anything for it. Usually those people have no intention of doing something or if they do, most of the time it’s completely wrong. However, at the end of the day, they always manage to get the wanted result and have the positive outcome of everything. Those people rely on luck instead of any experience or skills.
5. The last word is called “shmatka”. The word is used for a person who is always wandering around without knowing what’s going on. Whenever you ask such person where they are or what are about to do, the answer is always the same- I don’t know. “Shmatka” could be used for a person who is always lost, even though his/her phone has GPS. Also, another meaning of the words is when you want to describe someone who is always in the middle of nowhere with assignments and tasks. Those people usually have no exact plans about anything and they just like to continue going with the flow.
